Congresswoman Balks at ‘Oppressive’ Israel Terms for West Bank Visit

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib on Friday rejected Israel’s offer to allow her to visit her grandmother in the West Bank, blasting the “oppressive conditions” set for the visit as humiliating.

“I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in — fighting against racism, oppression & injustice,” Tlaib said in a series of tweets.

On Thursday, Israel rejected a visit by the U.S. Congress’ first two Muslim women lawmakers, Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, on the grounds that they support a boycott of the country over its treatment of the Palestinians, and after President Donald Trump urged the Jewish state to block them.

But early Friday, Israel reversed course on Tlaib, saying she could visit her grandmother in the West Bank, on the grounds that the 43-year-old first-term congresswoman agree to not promote a boycott against Israel.

“When I won, it gave the Palestinian people hope that someone will finally speak the truth about the inhumane conditions,” Tlaib wrote Friday.

“I can’t allow the state of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me & use my love for my sity to bow down to their oppressive & racist policies,” she said, referring to her grandmother.

“Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me.”